Cerrone-Ratcliff Agree to WEC in December

Donald
Cerrone and Ed Ratcliff
have verbally agreed to meet in a featured lightweight bout at a
yet-to-be-announced WEC 45 event on Dec. 19 in Las Vegas.

A source with knowledge of the matchup said bout agreements are
expected to be distributed and signed shortly. The source also
added that the bout could serve as the night’s main event.

Cerrone and Benson
Henderson earned “Fight of the Night” accolades for their
five-round interim lightweight championship bout at WEC 43 on Oct.
10 in San Antonio. Henderson took a debated unanimous decision, but
the heated contest highlighted Cerrone’s ground arsenal in the
earlier rounds and his aggressive striking in the later
moments.

The defeat was Cerrone’s second in 13 career bouts. The Greg
Jackson-trained fighter has collected key victories over WEC vets
Rob
McCullough and Anthony
Njokuani.

A favorite of the Southern California circuit for his acrobatic
antics, Ratcliff has won three of his four WEC appearances,
including a unanimous decision victory against Phil
Cardella at WEC 42 last August.

Ratcliff, who trains with Brandon Vera
and Dominick
Cruz at the Alliance MMA gym in Chula Vista, Calif., has only
one loss on his docket –- a first-round submission to Marcus Hicks
from March 2008.